Cooperative monitoring networks

ABSTRACT

An electronic monitoring system is described that receives data from a particular monitoring system, receives data from multiple other monitoring systems, analyzes data received from the particular monitoring system irrespective of data received from the multiple other monitoring systems, based on the analysis, determines whether one or more events occur at the particular environment, and in response to determining that a particular event occurs at the particular environment, evaluates the particular event against a set of rules, selects, based on the evaluation results, a particular subset of the multiple other monitoring systems to serve as a cooperative monitoring network, assesses data received from the particular monitoring system with data received from the particular subset of the multiple other monitoring systems, based on the assessment, tracks, in connection with the particular event, events detected by the particular subset of the multiple other monitoring systems, and handles the particular event based on the tracked events detected by the particular subset of the multiple other monitoring systems.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 62/160,269, filed May 12, 2015, which is incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety for all purposes.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to cooperative monitoring networks.

BACKGROUND

Many people equip homes and businesses with monitoring systems toprovide increased security and automation for their homes andbusinesses. Monitoring systems may include control panels that a personmay use to control operation of the monitoring system, sensors thatmonitor for security breaches, and devices located within the property.In response to a monitoring system detecting a security breach, themonitoring system may generate an audible alert and, if the monitoringsystem is monitored by a monitoring service, the monitoring system maysend electronic data to the monitoring service to alert the monitoringservice of the security breach.

SUMMARY

Techniques are described for cooperative monitoring networks.

Implementations of the described techniques may include hardware, amethod or process implemented at least partially in hardware, or acomputer-readable storage medium encoded with executable instructionsthat, when executed by a processor, perform operations.

The details of one or more implementations are set forth in theaccompanying drawings and the description below. Other features will beapparent from the description and drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system.

FIGS. 2A, 2B, 2C, 3, and 4 illustrate exemplary frameworks forcooperative monitoring networks configured to provide monitoringfunctions to a community.

FIGS. 5, 8, and 9 depict example processes.

FIG. 6 illustrates example rules for forming cooperative monitoringnetworks.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example user interface.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Techniques are described herein for cooperative monitoring networks thatare capable of monitoring and responding to events on a variety ofscales. The techniques may involve a system that detects an event, suchas an alarm event, at one or more existing monitoring systems. Thesystem may evaluate the detected event against a set of rules associatedwith the particular monitoring system at which the event was detectedand one or more other monitoring systems that may be located nearby theparticular monitoring system.

In some implementations, the system may determine based on the resultsof the evaluation to form a cooperative monitoring network between theparticular monitoring system and at least one of the one or more othermonitoring systems. The cooperative monitoring network activated by thesystem may allow for data, such as alerts, to be shared amongst itsmonitoring systems. Such monitoring functions included in thecooperative monitoring network may function in cooperation with oneanother so as to coordinate network-wide monitoring on events that maybe of importance to, for instance, the particular neighborhood or regionof which the cooperative monitoring network has been activated.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of an electronic system 100 configured toprovide various scales of monitoring capabilities by activating andmodifying cooperative monitoring networks using multiple existingmonitoring systems. The electronic system 100 includes a network 105, amonitoring system control unit 110, one or more user devices 140, 150, amonitoring application server 160, and a central alarm station server170. In some examples, the network 105 facilitates communicationsbetween the monitoring system control unit 110, the one or more userdevices 140, 150, the monitoring application server 160, and the centralalarm station server 170.

The network 105 is configured to enable exchange of electroniccommunications between devices connected to the network 105. Forexample, the network 105 may be configured to enable exchange ofelectronic communications between the monitoring system control unit110, the one or more user devices 140, 150, the monitoring applicationserver 160, and the central alarm station server 170. The network 105may include, for example, one or more of the Internet, Wide AreaNetworks (WANs), Local Area Networks (LANs), analog or digital wired andwireless telephone networks (e.g., a public switched telephone network(PSTN), Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), a cellular network,and Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)), radio, television, cable, satellite,or any other delivery or tunneling mechanism for carrying data. Network105 may include multiple networks or subnetworks, each of which mayinclude, for example, a wired or wireless data pathway. The network 105may include a circuit-switched network, a packet-switched data network,or any other network able to carry electronic communications (e.g., dataor voice communications). For example, the network 105 may includenetworks based on the Internet protocol (IP), asynchronous transfer mode(ATM), the PSTN, packet-switched networks based on IP, X.25, or FrameRelay, or other comparable technologies and may support voice using, forexample, VoIP, or other comparable protocols used for voicecommunications. The network 105 may include one or more networks thatinclude wireless data channels and wireless voice channels. The network105 may be a wireless network, a broadband network, or a combination ofnetworks including a wireless network and a broadband network.

The monitoring system control unit 110 includes a controller 112 and anetwork module 114. The controller 112 is configured to control amonitoring system 108 (e.g., a home alarm or security system) thatincludes the monitoring system control unit 110. The premises monitoredby monitoring system 108 may, for example, be a home, business, lot ofland, or the like. In some examples, the controller 112 may include aprocessor or other control circuitry configured to execute instructionsof a program that controls operation of an alarm system. In theseexamples, the controller 112 may be configured to receive input fromsensors, detectors, or other devices included in the alarm system andcontrol operations of devices included in the alarm system or otherhousehold devices (e.g., a thermostat, an appliance, lights, etc.). Forexample, the controller 112 may be configured to control operation ofthe network module 114 included in the monitoring system control unit110.

The network module 114 is a communication device configured to exchangecommunications over the network 105. The network module 114 may be awireless communication module configured to exchange wirelesscommunications over the network 105. For example, the network module 114may be a wireless communication device configured to exchangecommunications over a wireless data channel and a wireless voicechannel. In this example, the network module 114 may transmit alarm dataover a wireless data channel and establish a two-way voice communicationsession over a wireless voice channel. The wireless communication devicemay include one or more of a GSM module, a radio modem, cellulartransmission module, or any type of module configured to exchangecommunications in one of the following formats: GSM or GPRS, CDMA, EDGEor EGPRS, EV-DO or EVDO, UMTS, ZigBee/802.15.4, Z-Wave, Bluetooth, WiFi,or IP.

The network module 114 also may be a wired communication moduleconfigured to exchange communications over the network 105 using a wiredconnection. For instance, the network module 114 may be a modem, anetwork interface card, or another type of network interface device. Thenetwork module 114 may be an Ethernet network card configured to enablethe monitoring system control unit 110 to communicate over a local areanetwork and/or the Internet. The network module 114 also may be avoiceband modem configured to enable the alarm panel to communicate overthe telephone lines of Plain Old Telephone Systems (POTS).

The monitoring system that includes the monitoring system control unit110 includes one or more sensors or detectors. For example, themonitoring system may include multiple sensors 120. The sensors 120 mayinclude a contact sensor, a motion sensor, a glass break sensor, or anyother type of sensor included in an alarm system or security system. Thesensors 120 also may include an environmental sensor, such as atemperature sensor, a water sensor, a rain sensor, a wind sensor, alight sensor, a smoke detector, a carbon monoxide detector, an airquality sensor, etc. The sensors 120 further may include a healthmonitoring sensor, such as a prescription bottle sensor that monitorstaking of prescriptions, a blood pressure sensor, a blood sugar sensor,a bed mat configured to sense presence of liquid (e.g., bodily fluids)on the bed mat, etc. In some examples, the sensors 120 may include aradio-frequency identification (RFID) sensor that identifies aparticular article that includes a pre-assigned RFID tag.

The monitoring system control unit 110 communicates with the module 122and the camera 130 to perform surveillance, monitoring, and/or controloperations. The module 122 is connected to one or more lighting systemsand/or one or more household devices (e.g., thermostat, oven, range,etc.) and is configured to control operation of the one or more lightingsystems and/or the one or more household devices. The module 122 maycontrol the one or more lighting systems and/or the one or morehousehold devices based on commands received from the monitoring systemcontrol unit 110. For instance, the module 122 may cause a lightingsystem to illuminate an area to provide a better image of the area whencaptured by a camera 130. The module 122 also may control the one ormore lighting systems and/or the one or more household devices toperform energy management and/or user convenience operations (e.g.,adjusting a temperature setting of a thermostat and turning an oven offand on to meet energy management and user convenience goals).

The camera 130 may be a video/photographic camera or other type ofoptical sensing device configured to capture images. For instance, thecamera 130 may be configured to capture images of an area within abuilding monitored by the monitoring system control unit 110. The camera130 may be configured to capture single, static images of the area andalso video images of the area in which multiple images of the area arecaptured at a relatively high frequency (e.g., thirty images persecond). The camera 130 may be controlled based on commands receivedfrom the monitoring system control unit 110.

The camera 130 may be triggered by several different types oftechniques. For instance, a Passive Infra Red (PIR) motion sensor may bebuilt into the camera 130 and used to trigger the camera 130 to captureone or more images when motion is detected. The camera 130 also mayinclude a microwave motion sensor built into the camera and used totrigger the camera 130 to capture one or more images when motion isdetected. The camera 130 may have a “normally open” or “normally closed”digital input that can trigger capture of one or more images whenexternal sensors (e.g., the sensors 120, PIR, door/window, etc.) detectmotion or other events. In some implementations, the camera 130 receivesa command to capture an image when external devices detect motion oranother potential alarm event. The camera 130 may receive the commandfrom the controller 112 or directly from one of the sensors 120.

In some examples, the camera 130 triggers integrated or externalilluminators (e.g., Infra Red, Z-wave controlled “white” lights, lightscontrolled by the module 122, etc.) to improve image quality when thescene is dark. An integrated or separate light sensor may be used todetermine if illumination is desired and may result in increased imagequality.

The camera 130 may be programmed with any combination of time/dayschedules, system “arming state”, or other variables to determinewhether images should be captured or not when triggers occur. The camera130 may enter a low-power mode when not capturing images. In this case,the camera 130 may wake periodically to check for inbound messages fromthe controller 112. The camera 130 may be powered by internal,replaceable batteries if located remotely from the monitoring controlunit 110. The camera 130 may employ a small solar cell to recharge thebattery when light is available. Alternatively, the camera 130 may bepowered by the controller's 112 power supply if the camera 130 isco-located with the controller 112.

The sensors 120, the module 122, and the camera 130 communicate with thecontroller 112 over communication links 124, 126, and 128. Thecommunication links 124, 126, and 128 may include a wired or wirelessdata pathway configured to transmit signals from the sensors 120, themodule 122, and the camera 130 to the controller 112. The sensors 120,the module 122, and the camera 130 may continuously transmit sensedvalues to the controller 112, periodically transmit sensed values to thecontroller 112, or transmit sensed values to the controller 112 inresponse to a change in a sensed value.

The communication link 128 over which the camera 130 and the controller112 communicate may include a local network. The camera 130 and thecontroller 112 may exchange images and commands over the local network.The local network may include 802.11 “WiFi” wireless Ethernet (e.g.,using low-power WiFi chipsets), Z-Wave, Zigbee, Bluetooth, “Homeplug” orother “Powerline” networks that operate over AC wiring, and a Category 5(CAT5) or Category 6 (CAT6) wired Ethernet network. In someimplementations, the camera 130 and the controller 112 may communicateover network 105. That is, one or more nodes of network 105 may beincluded along communication link 128.

The monitoring application server 160 is an electronic device configuredto provide monitoring services by exchanging electronic communicationswith the monitoring system control unit 110, the one or more userdevices 140, 150, and the central alarm station server 170 over thenetwork 105. For example, the monitoring application server 160 may beconfigured to monitor events (e.g., alarm events) generated by themonitoring system control unit 110. In this example, the monitoringapplication server 160 may exchange electronic communications with thenetwork module 114 included in the monitoring system control unit 110 toreceive information regarding events (e.g., alarm events) detected bythe monitoring system control unit 110. The monitoring applicationserver 160 also may receive information regarding events (e.g., alarmevents) from the one or more user devices 140, 150.

In some examples, the monitoring application server 160 may route alarmdata received from the network module 114 or the one or more userdevices 140, 150 to the central alarm station server 170. For example,the monitoring application server 160 may transmit the alarm data to thecentral alarm station server 170 over the network 105.

The monitoring application server 160 may store sensor and image datareceived from the monitoring system and perform analysis of sensor andimage data received from the monitoring system. Based on the analysis,the monitoring application server 160 may communicate with and controlaspects of the monitoring system control unit 110 or the one or moreuser devices 140, 150.

The central alarm station server 170 is an electronic device configuredto provide alarm monitoring service by exchanging communications withthe monitoring system control unit 110, the one or more mobile devices140, 150, and the monitoring application server 160 over the network105. For example, the central alarm station server 170 may be configuredto monitor alarm events generated by the monitoring system control unit110. In this example, the central alarm station server 170 may exchangecommunications with the network module 114 included in the monitoringsystem control unit 110 to receive information regarding alarm eventsdetected by the monitoring system control unit 110. The central alarmstation server 170 also may receive information regarding alarm eventsfrom the one or more mobile devices 140, 150.

The central alarm station server 170 is connected to multiple terminals172 and 174. The terminals 172 and 174 may be used by operators toprocess alarm events. For example, the central alarm station server 170may route alarm data to the terminals 172 and 174 to enable an operatorto process the alarm data. The terminals 172 and 174 may includegeneral-purpose computers (e.g., desktop personal computers,workstations, or laptop computers) that are configured to receive alarmdata from a server in the central alarm station server 170 and render adisplay of information based on the alarm data. For instance, thecontroller 112 may control the network module 114 to transmit, to thecentral alarm station server 170, alarm data indicating that a sensor120 detected a door opening when the monitoring system was armed. Thecentral alarm station server 170 may receive the alarm data and routethe alarm data to the terminal 172 for processing by an operatorassociated with the terminal 172. The terminal 172 may render a displayto the operator that includes information associated with the alarmevent (e.g., the name of the user of the alarm system, the address ofthe building the alarm system is monitoring, the type of alarm event,etc.) and the operator may handle the alarm event based on the displayedinformation.

In some implementations, the terminals 172 and 174 may be mobile devicesor devices designed for a specific function. Although FIG. 1 illustratestwo terminals for brevity, actual implementations may include more (and,perhaps, many more) terminals.

The one or more user devices 140, 150 are devices that host and displayuser interfaces. For instance, the user device 140 is a mobile devicethat hosts one or more native applications (e.g., the nativesurveillance application 142). The user device 140 may be a cellularphone or a non-cellular locally networked device with a display. Theuser device 140 may include a cell phone, a smart phone, a tablet PC, apersonal digital assistant (“PDA”), or any other portable deviceconfigured to communicate over a network and display information. Forexample, implementations may also include Blackberry-type devices (e.g.,as provided by Research in Motion), electronic organizers, iPhone-typedevices (e.g., as provided by Apple), iPod devices (e.g., as provided byApple) or other portable music players, other communication devices, andhandheld or portable electronic devices for gaming, communications,and/or data organization. The user device 140 may perform functionsunrelated to the monitoring system, such as placing personal telephonecalls, playing music, playing video, displaying pictures, browsing theInternet, maintaining an electronic calendar, etc.

The user device 140 includes a native surveillance application 142. Thenative surveillance application 142 refers to a software/firmwareprogram running on the corresponding mobile device that enables the userinterfaces and features described throughout. The user device 140 mayload or install the native surveillance application 142 based on datareceived over a network or data received from local media. The nativesurveillance application 142 runs on mobile devices platforms, such asiPhone, iPod touch, Blackberry, Google Android, Windows Mobile, etc. Thenative surveillance application 142 enables the user device 140 toreceive and process image and sensor data from the monitoring system.

The user device 150 may be a general-purpose computer (e.g., a desktoppersonal computer, a workstation, or a laptop computer) that isconfigured to communicate with the monitoring application server 160and/or the monitoring system control unit 110 over the network 105. Theuser device 150 may be configured to display a surveillance monitoringuser interface 152 that is generated by the user device 150 or generatedby the monitoring application server 160. For example, the user device150 may be configured to display a user interface (e.g., a web page)provided by the monitoring application server 160 that enables a user toperceive images captured by the camera 130 and/or reports related to themonitoring system. Although FIG. 1 illustrates two user devices forbrevity, actual implementations may include more (and, perhaps, manymore) or fewer user devices.

In some implementations, the one or more user devices 140, 150communicate with and receive monitoring system data from the monitoringsystem control unit 110 using the communication link 138. For instance,the one or more user devices 140, 150 may communicate with themonitoring system control unit 110 using various local wirelessprotocols such as wife, Bluetooth, zwave, zigbee, HomePlug (ethernetover powerline), or wired protocols such as Ethernet and USB, to connectthe one or more user devices 140, 150 to local security and automationequipment. The one or more user devices 140, 150 may connect locally tothe monitoring system and its sensors and other devices. The localconnection may improve the speed of status and control communicationsbecause communicating through the network 105 with a remote server(e.g., the monitoring application server 160) may be significantlyslower.

Although the one or more user devices 140, 150 are shown ascommunicating with the monitoring system control unit 110, the one ormore user devices 140, 150 may communicate directly with the sensors andother devices controlled by the monitoring system control unit 110. Insome implementations, the one or more user devices 140, 150 replace themonitoring system control unit 110 and perform the functions of themonitoring system control unit 110 for local monitoring and longrange/offsite communication.

In other implementations, the one or more user devices 140, 150 receivemonitoring system data captured by the monitoring system control unit110 through the network 105. The one or more user devices 140, 150 mayreceive the data from the monitoring system control unit 110 through thenetwork 105 or the monitoring application server 160 may relay datareceived from the monitoring system control unit 110 to the one or moreuser devices 140, 150 through the network 105. In this regard, themonitoring application server 160 may facilitate communication betweenthe one or more user devices 140, 150 and the monitoring system.

In some implementations, the one or more user devices 140, 150 may beconfigured to switch whether the one or more user devices 140, 150communicate with the monitoring system control unit 110 directly (e.g.,through link 138) or through the monitoring application server 160(e.g., through network 105) based on a location of the one or more userdevices 140, 150. For instance, when the one or more user devices 140,150 are located close to the monitoring system control unit 110 and inrange to communicate directly with the monitoring system control unit110, the one or more user devices 140, 150 use direct communication.When the one or more user devices 140, 150 are located far from themonitoring system control unit 110 and not in range to communicatedirectly with the monitoring system control unit 110, the one or moreuser devices 140, 150 use communication through the monitoringapplication server 160.

Although the one or more user devices 140, 150 are shown as beingconnected to the network 105, in some implementations, the one or moreuser devices 140, 150 are not connected to the network 105. In theseimplementations, the one or more user devices 140, 150 communicatedirectly with one or more of the monitoring system components and nonetwork (e.g., Internet) connection or reliance on remote servers isneeded.

In some implementations, the one or more user devices 140, 150 are usedin conjunction with only local sensors and/or local devices in a house.In these implementations, the system 100 only includes the one or moreuser devices 140, 150, the sensors 120, the module 122, and the camera130. The one or more user devices 140, 150 receive data directly fromthe sensors 120, the module 122, and the camera 130 and sends datadirectly to the sensors 120, the module 122, and the camera 130. The oneor more user devices 140, 150 provide the appropriateinterfaces/processing to provide visual surveillance and reporting.

In other implementations, the system 100 further includes network 105and the sensors 120, the module 122, and the camera 130 are configuredto communicate sensor and image data to the one or more user devices140, 150 over network 105 (e.g., the Internet, cellular network, etc.).In yet another implementation, the sensors 120, the module 122, and thecamera 130 (or a component, such as a bridge/router) are intelligentenough to change the communication pathway from a direct local pathwaywhen the one or more user devices 140, 150 are in close physicalproximity to the sensors 120, the module 122, and the camera 130 to apathway over network 105 when the one or more user devices 140, 150 arefarther from the sensors 120, the module 122, and the camera 130. Insome examples, the system leverages GPS information from the one or moreuser devices 140, 150 to determine whether the one or more user devices140, 150 are close enough to the sensors 120, the module 122, and thecamera 130 to use the direct local pathway or whether the one or moreuser devices 140, 150 are far enough from the sensors 120, the module122, and the camera 130 that the pathway over network 105 is required.In other examples, the system leverages status communications (e.g.,pinging) between the one or more user devices 140, 150 and the sensors120, the module 122, and the camera 130 to determine whethercommunication using the direct local pathway is possible. Ifcommunication using the direct local pathway is possible, the one ormore user devices 140, 150 communicate with the sensors 120, the module122, and the camera 130 using the direct local pathway. If communicationusing the direct local pathway is not possible, the one or more userdevices 140, 150 communicate with the sensors 120, the module 122, andthe camera 130 using the pathway over network 105.

In some implementations, the system 100 provides end users with accessto images captured by the camera 130 to aid in decision making. Thesystem 100 may transmit the images captured by the camera 130 over awireless WAN network to the user devices 140, 150. Because transmissionover a wireless WAN network may be relatively expensive, the system 100uses several techniques to reduce costs while providing access tosignificant levels of useful visual information.

In some implementations, a state of the monitoring system and otherevents sensed by the monitoring system may be used to enable/disablevideo/image recording devices (e.g., the camera 130). In theseimplementations, the camera 130 may be set to capture images on aperiodic basis when the alarm system is armed in an “Away” state, butset not to capture images when the alarm system is armed in a “Stay”state or disarmed. In addition, the camera 130 may be triggered to begincapturing images when the alarm system detects an event, such as analarm event, a door opening event for a door that leads to an areawithin a field of view of the camera 130, or motion in the area withinthe field of view of the camera 130. In other implementations, thecamera 130 may capture images continuously, but the captured images maybe stored or transmitted over a network when needed.

In some implementations, the system 100 may further include a monitoringsystem 108 _(N). The premises monitored by monitoring system 108 _(N)may, for example, be a home, business, lot of land, or the like. In someimplementations, the premises monitored by monitoring system 108 _(N)may neighbor the premises monitored by the monitoring system 108. Themonitoring system 108 _(N) may function in a manner substantiallysimilar to monitoring system 108 as described above.

The monitoring application server 160 and central alarm station server170 may provide monitoring services to the monitoring system 108 _(N)independent from the monitoring services provided to monitoring system108. That is, the monitoring system 108 and the monitoring system 108Nmay communicate with common nodes in network 105, but may functionindependent from each other, as they are two separate systems. However,in certain situations the system 100 may effectively unite themonitoring system 108 and monitoring system 108 _(N) such that amonitoring service can be provided for the premises monitored by bothmonitoring systems as a whole. In this way, the monitoring system 108and monitoring system 108 _(N) may together form a cooperativemonitoring network 180. In other words, the capabilities of both themonitoring system 108 and monitoring system 108 _(N) may be combined tomonitor and respond to events on a neighborhood-wide scale. This mayallow neighbors to be made aware of nearby alarm events so that they maybe able to take necessary precautions or come to the aid of anotherneighbor in harm's way.

The monitoring system 108 and monitoring system 108 _(N) may be“unified” from the perspective of the monitoring application server 160and/or central alarm station server 170 in response to detection of analarm event at the premises monitored by either monitoring system. Insome implementations, the monitoring application server 160 and/orcentral alarm station server 170 may associate monitoring system 108Nwith monitoring system 108 to activate cooperative monitoring network180 in response to the detection of an alarm event in response todetermining that an alarm has been sounded at the home monitored bymonitoring system 108, but has not been disarmed within a predeterminedperiod of time. The cooperative monitoring network 180 may be of amodular design in that monitoring systems within a same neighborhood maybe added and removed from the cooperative monitoring network 180 asneeded.

The monitoring application server 160 and/or central alarm stationserver 170 may follow a set of cross-system rules that define thedifferent circumstances under which cooperative monitoring networks areto be formed and various relationships between monitoring systems withineach cooperative monitoring network. For instance, cooperativemonitoring networks may be initially formed to include monitoringsystems that are in close proximity to one another. In this example, themonitoring application server 160 and/or central alarm station server170 may determine that monitoring system 108 is most closely-located tomonitoring system 108 _(N), and therefore select monitoring system 108_(N) when activating cooperative monitoring network 180 in response todetection of a particular alarm condition in monitoring system 108.

Upon activating the cooperative monitoring network 180, the monitoringapplication server 160 and/or central alarm station server may utilizesensors 120-120 _(N), lights/devices 122-122 _(N), and cameras 130-130_(N) to monitor and respond to events at both premises. For example, thecross-system rules may specify that one or more lights 122 _(N) beactivated in response to an alarm event detected at the neighboringpremises monitored by monitoring system 108.

Similarly, the data output by sensors 120 and cameras 130 may beconsidered and handled by the monitoring application server 160 andcentral alarm station server 170 in conjunction with the data output bysensors 120 _(N) and cameras 130 _(N). This may allow the monitoringapplication server 160 and central alarm station server 170 to moreeffectively track and evaluate alarm events. For example, thecross-system rules may specify that images from a house's outdoorcameras may be recorded in response to an alarm event at a neighbor'shouse. The cross-system rules may further associate images captured bycameras 130 with those captured by cameras 130 _(N). By consideringthese images in tandem, the monitoring application server 160 and/orcentral alarm station server 170 may be able to surveil events frommultiple viewpoints and track entities of interest.

In some implementations, the monitoring application server 160 andcentral alarm station server 170 may form and grow a cooperativemonitoring network in a cascading manner. For example, the monitoringapplication server 160 and central alarm station server 170 mayinitially form a cooperative monitoring network with the monitoringsystems of two next door neighbors. In this example, the cooperativemonitoring network may be activated in response to detecting an alarmevent at a home in order to provide an alarm notification to theirimmediate neighbors. By alerting an immediate neighbor, help orassistance may be more easily provided in a short amount of time. Insome examples, the monitoring application server 160 and central alarmstation server 170 may grow the cooperative monitoring network toprovide alarm notifications to neighbors that are farther away if one ofthe immediate neighbors does not indicate that they are handling thealarm within a predetermined period of time. The monitoring applicationserver 160 and central alarm station server 170 may continue toperiodically grow the cooperative monitoring network to providecascading alarm notifications to spread awareness of the alarm eventthroughout the neighborhood until one or more of the alarm notificationrecipients indicates that they are handling the alarm. In someimplementations, the last recipient of an alarm notification may be apaid responder. In this way, a paid responder is only tasked withhandling issues of relatively high severity. In some implementations,the cascading alarm notifications may only be provided to those who havebeen determined to be in their home at the time of the alarm event.

FIGS. 2A-C illustrate an exemplary framework 200 for a cooperativemonitoring network configured to provide monitoring functions to acommunity, such as a neighborhood. In FIG. 2A, the framework 200A for aneighborhood watch system may include a monitoring system for premises210 and a monitoring system for premises 220. In some implementations,the monitoring system for premises 210 and monitoring system forpremises 220 may be similar to one or more of the monitoring systemsdescribed above in association with FIG. 1. The monitoring system forpremises 210 may serve to sense attributes of premises 210, which may,for example, correspond to that of an environment within and/orsurrounding a residence. Monitoring systems for other environments, suchas the monitoring system for premises 220, may provide similar sensingand monitoring functions in their respective environment. The monitoringsystems of premises 210 and 220 may, for example, be registered todifferent accounts that are managed by a monitoring application serverand/or central alarm station server similar to those described above.That is, the users of monitoring systems of premises 210 and 220 mayhold separate accounts with a security or automation service providerthat operates the monitoring application server and/or central alarmstation server.

In the example of FIG. 2A, an alarm event, such as a home intrusion, maybe detected at the monitoring system for premises 210. Such an alarmevent may, for example, be identified by a monitoring application serverand/or central alarm station server similar to those described above,based on data the monitoring application server and/or central alarmstation receives from the monitoring system of premises 210. Themonitoring application server and/or central alarm station may identifysuch an alarm event that occurs at the monitoring system of premises 210irrespective of data the monitoring application server and/or centralalarm station receives from monitoring systems. That is, the monitoringapplication server and/or central alarm station may, by default, nottake data yielded from monitoring systems that are registered toaccounts other than the account to which the monitoring system ofpremises 210 is registered when determining whether one or more alarmevents occur at premises 210.

In response to detecting this alarm event, a monitoring applicationserver and/or central alarm station server similar to those describedabove may determine to activate a cooperative monitoring network withthe monitoring system for premises 210 and the monitoring system forpremises 220. In this way, an alert produced at premises 210 may bepropagated to premises 220 to spread awareness of the alarm eventthroughout the community. This helps enhance the security of neighborsin the immediate area of the alarm event, as well as the residents ofthe home on premises 210. Upon establishing the neighborhood watchsystem, the monitoring systems of premises 210 and 220 may be reliedupon in tandem to continue to monitor an intruder associated with thealarm event. For instance, one or more cameras belonging to themonitoring system of premises 220 may be utilized to capture images ofthe entity intruding premises 210. The monitoring application serverand/or central alarm station server may determine that one or morecameras belonging to the monitoring system of premises 220 has a fieldof view 222 that includes at least a portion of premises 210 or anentity of interest to the monitoring system for premises 210. In someimplementations, the monitoring application server and/or central alarmstation server may specifically form the neighborhood watch system usingthe monitoring system for premises 220 on the basis that one or morecameras belonging to the monitoring system of premises 220 has a fieldof view 222 that includes at least a portion of premises 210 or anentity of interest to the monitoring system for premises 210. Suchentities of interest may, for example, include persons, animals, andvehicles.

In some implementations, sensors and other devices of the monitoringsystem for premises 220 may be utilized selectively according to themonitoring system for premises 210. In the example of FIG. 2A, the oneor more cameras with field of view 222 may capture images 224A of theintruder.

In the example of FIG. 2B, the intruder 202 has fled premises 210. Themonitoring systems of premises 210 and 220 may continue to track theintruder 202 as they exit the premises. The camera of the monitoringsystem of premises 220 may capture images 224B of the intruder 202fleeing in direction 214. In some implementations, the trajectory of anintruder or other entity of interest may be determined on the basis ofimage processing performed on one or more images captures in themonitoring environment. In some examples, one or more machine learningtechniques may be leveraged so as to predict routes taken by entities onthe move. The monitoring application server and/or central alarm stationserver may reference one or more databases that associate monitoringsystems with geographical locations in order to identify one or moremonitoring systems that may be of service in tracking the intruder 202.The monitoring application server and/or central alarm station servermay determine that the intruder 202's movements in direction 214indicate that the intruder 202 may become visible to a monitoring systemfor premises 230. For at least this reason, the monitoring applicationserver and/or central alarm station server may add the monitoring systemfor premises 230 to the cooperative monitoring network. Similarly, analarm may be propagated to the monitoring system for premises 230 toraise awareness of the intrusion. In some examples, such as those inwhich one or more machine learning techniques are leveraged whentracking entities, the monitoring application server and/or centralalarm station server may predict the route being taken by intruder 202based on the movements of intruder 202 and movements of other personshaving previously traveled through the same region, and add themonitoring system of premises 230 to the cooperative monitoring networkwell before the intruder 202 approaches premises 230, based on such aprediction.

As the situation evolves, additional alarms may be provided to any ofthe monitoring systems for premises 210, 220, and 230. For example, analarm may be provided to residents of premises 230 to warn them that apotentially dangerous entity is heading toward their home. In someimplementations, a live video feed from one or more cameras within thecooperative monitoring network may be sent to or otherwise shared withresidents of homes in the cooperative monitoring network. In addition,at least one of images of the intruder 202 (e.g., close-up shots of theintruder's face), description of the intruder 202 (e.g., suspectedcrime, physical appearance, etc.), and the geographical location of theintruder 202 (e.g., address, cross-street, GPS coordinates, and thelike) may be provided to such residents in one or more customizedalerts.

In the example of FIG. 2C, the intruder 202 has continued to fleepremises 210. A camera of the monitoring system for premises 230 may beactivated to track the intruder in a manner similar to that which hasbeen described above. Similarly, images captured by a camera of themonitoring system for premises 210 may continue to be of interest fortracking purposes. In some implementations, one or more lights ofmonitoring systems included in neighborhood watch system may beactivated to bring attention to an entity of interest and/or promote anappearance of heightened security within the neighborhood. Through theuse of cameras with fields of view 212 and 232, the monitoring systemsof premises 210 and 230 may continue to track the intruder 202. In theexample of FIG. 2C, the cameras of the monitoring systems of premises210 and 230 may capture images 214C and 234C of the intruder 202,respectively. In some implementations, image recognition data may bedeveloped on the basis of images previously captured by the monitoringsystems for premises 210 and 220. Such image recognition data may beused in processing images captured by the monitoring system for premises230 or other monitoring systems added to the cooperative monitoringnetwork. For example, one or more models or templates for recognizingthe intruder 202 may be developed and adaptively improved upon asadditional images of the intruder 202 are recorded from various fieldsof view.

If it is determined that the intruder 202 is no longer visible to thesensors of the monitoring system for premises 220, then the monitoringapplication server and/or central alarm station server may discontinuereliance on the camera of the monitoring system for premises 220 fortracking purposes. In this sense, the cooperative monitoring networkcoordinates the passing of video control to different cameras in orderto obtain a complete picture of the movements of intruder 202. In someexamples, the exemplary framework may continue to grow as far outward asit may need to in order to track the intruder 202 and provide a completepicture of the scene. In some implementations, some or all camerasbelonging to nearby monitoring systems may be activated in asubstantially simultaneous manner so as to increase the chances ofcapturing images of intruder 202.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary framework 300 for activating acooperative monitoring network configured to provide monitoringfunctions to a community, such as a neighborhood. In this example, analarm event may be detected at a monitoring system. For example, thealarm event may be detected at a monitoring system for premises 312. Themonitoring system for premises 312 may be similar to that of one or moreof the monitoring systems described in association with FIGS. 1 and 2.Data associated with the alarm event detected at monitoring system forpremises 312 may be received by one or more of a monitoring applicationserver and a central alarm station server. For example, the alarm eventat monitoring system for premises 312 may have been detected on thebasis of a health-monitoring sensor and indicates that a resident ofpremises 312 may be in need of medical attention.

The alarm event detected at the monitoring system for premises 312 maythen, for example, be evaluated against a set of rules. This evaluationmay be performed by one or more of the monitoring application server andcentral alarm station server. Such rules may define the differentcircumstances under which cooperative monitoring networks are to beactivated and various relationships between monitoring systems withineach cooperative monitoring network. In some implementations, at least aportion of the rules may be configured in accordance with userpreferences provided by one or more monitoring systems. The rules mayfurther specify monitoring systems with which to establish a cooperativemonitoring network. One or more monitoring systems with which toestablish a cooperative monitoring network may be selected based on oneor more of their geographical proximity to premises 312, vacancy state(e.g., whether anyone is currently at home), and user preferences. Inthe example described above relating to the resident of premises 312needing medical attention, the set of rules may specify that acooperative monitoring network is to be established if a health-relatedalarm is raised at premises 312 and is not handled within 5 minutes. Insome implementations, one or more users may be prompted to providepermission to include the monitoring system associated with their homein a cooperative monitoring network. In some examples, such a prompt maybe provided to nearby users in response to an event having been detectedat a monitoring system. In some implementations, the prompt describedabove may be provided in tandem with an alert relating to the alarmevent detected. In other examples, users may preregister theirmonitoring system to be included in specific cooperative monitoringnetworks in the event that one is to be activated.

Next, it may be determined that a cooperative monitoring network is tobe activated. In the present example, the evaluation results mayindicate that 5 minutes have passed since the health-related alarm wasraised at premises 312. Therefore, a cooperative monitoring network 344may be activated according to the evaluation results. The rulesassociated with the monitoring system 312 may specify, for example, thatthe cooperative monitoring network is to be established with monitoringsystems that are closest in proximity to premises 312, such asmonitoring systems 342 a, 342 b, 342 c, and 342 d. It may further bespecified that a customized alert is to be provided throughout thecooperative network 244 to indicate that the resident of premises 312 ishaving a medical emergency. The resident of premises 312 may have, forexample, indicated in their user preferences that such medical emergencyalerts be provided with additional information regarding the resident'sknown medical conditions. The cooperative monitoring network 344 may befurther expanded in accordance with a cascading notification schemesimilar to that which has been described above.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary framework 400 for activating acooperative monitoring network configured to provide personal securityfunctions to a user of a mobile device. In this example, an alarm eventmay be detected at a mobile device that is similar to user device 140and/or user device 150, as described above in reference to FIG. 1, andsimilarly serves as a component of a monitoring system that isassociated with its user. More specifically, framework 400 includes amobile device 404 that belongs to user 402 and communicates with amonitoring application server and/or central alarm server, as well asother components of a monitoring system that is associated with user402. The mobile device 404, like user devices 140, 150, may run one ormore applications that similar to those of native surveillanceapplication 142 and/or surveillance monitoring application 152, as wellas one or more applications that provide user 402 with security serviceswhile they are on-the-go or otherwise away from their home. The diagramalso depicts user interface 414 of an application that is running onmobile device 404 and the creation of a cooperative monitoring networkbased input received from user 404 through the user interface 414 intime-sequenced stages “A” to “B,” respectively.

As shown in FIG. 4, a personal security application that is running onmobile device 404 may provide user interface 414 when accessed by user402. In this example, the personal security application that is runningon mobile device 404 enable a monitoring application server and/orcentral alarm server to provide help to user 402 in response to userinput being received through an input element of user interface 414,such as panic button 416. Such an input element may, for instance,enable user 402 to easily indicate to the personal security application,and thus the monitoring application server and/or central alarm server,that user 402 is, for example, under duress, in the midst of a hostileor otherwise dangerous situation, or requires emergency medicalassistance.

In the example of FIG. 4, user 402 may be in possession of mobile device404 while away from their home. In stage A, user 402 may, for example,encounter a crisis situation while walking past premises 430. Forinstance, a stranger may have started to physically assault user 402 atstage A. Upon encountering such a situation, user 402 may have, in thisexample, applied touch input 417 to the panic button 416 to signal forhelp. In response to the application running on mobile device 404 havingreceived touch input 417 or other duress input from user 402, the mobiledevice 404 may send data to the monitoring application server and/orcentral alarm server over a network similar to that of network 105 asdescribed above in reference to FIG. 1.

Once this communication is received on the backend, the monitoringapplication server and/or central alarm server may reference a set ofrules that are associated with the account of user 402 and determine toform a cooperative monitoring network to assist with the alarm eventdetected at mobile device 404. In some examples, the monitoringapplication server and/or central alarm server may determine thelocation of the mobile device 404 and activate one or more monitoringsystems within the vicinity of the mobile device 404. The location ofthe mobile device 404 may be determined on the basis of a GPS or othersystem that identifies the geographical location of the mobile device404 and whose output is made available to the monitoring applicationserver and/or central alarm server. For instance, the monitoringapplication server and/or central alarm server may determine that theclosest monitoring system to mobile device 404 is the monitoring systemof premises 430. In stage B, the monitoring application server and/orcentral alarm server may form a cooperative monitoring network that atleast includes the monitoring system of premises 430. At this juncture,the monitoring application server and/or central alarm server may, forexample, begin to assess data received from one or more components ofthe monitoring system of premises 430 that senses attributes of anenvironment 432. This data may, for instance, correspond to a feed froma camera of the monitoring system of premises 430 having field of view432.

By considering data produced by multiple monitoring systems within acooperative monitoring network and a same geographical area, anapplication server and/or central alarm station server may be able tomake neighborhood-wide determinations. For instance, an applicationserver and/or central alarm station server may be able to determine ifmonitoring system malfunctions such as phone line failure, powerfailure, or radio-frequency jamming are occurring on a neighborhood-widescale. In some implementations, such alarm events may prompt aspontaneous formation of a cooperative monitoring network for aneighborhood. In such implementations, residents of the neighborhood maybe alerted of the phone line or power status of others in theirneighborhood that are considered to be part of the cooperativemonitoring network. In the event that only a single home in aneighborhood is affected with a phone line or power failure, suchnotification may indicate to the resident of that home that the issue islocalized to their home. The application server and/or central alarmstation server may also be able to more accurately identify false-alarmsby considering the data produced by a neighborhood as a whole. Forexample, if output from a solar panel at one home triggers an alarm, theoutput from solar panels at other homes in the neighborhood may be takeninto consideration in determining whether the triggered alarm iswarranted. In this example, if the solar panels from one or more otherhomes in the neighborhood have also triggered alarms, it may beconcluded that the presence of snow or clouds may have caused a falsealarm.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an example of a process 500 for responding to amalfunction detected at a monitoring system using a cooperativemonitoring network. The following describes the process 500 as beingperformed by components of systems that are described with reference toFIGS. 1-4. However, the process 500 may be performed by other systems orsystem configurations. The process 500 may, for instance, be leveragedto address any of the malfunctions described above including phone linefailure, power failure, radio-frequency communication failure, andabnormalities in readings from solar panels and other transducers.

At 502, data received from a particular monitoring system may beanalyzed. With such data, the system may, at 504, determine whether anymalfunctions are present. More particularly, the system may determinewhether data from components of the particular monitoring system containany flags, whether data is being received from every component in theparticular monitoring system, and/or whether the values conveyed by suchdata deviate substantially from that of the norm or otherwise exhibitabnormalities. If no operational malfunctions are detected in theparticular monitoring system, the system may simply continue to analyzethe data it receives from the particular monitoring system (502).

However, in the event that an operational malfunction is detected, thesystem may, at 506, further determine whether a cooperative monitoringis defined for this particular operational malfunction. For example,this may correspond to the system evaluating the detected operationalmalfunction against a set of rules that have been defined for theparticular monitoring system. If it is determined that a cooperativemonitoring network is not defined for the particular operationalmalfunction detected, the system may, at 511, proceed to treat theoperational malfunction as an isolated of “property-specific” event. Forexample, the system may simply provide an alert or other notification tothe user associated with the particular monitoring system to bringattention to the operational malfunction detected. If, however, it isdetermined that a cooperative monitoring network is indeed defined forthe particular operational malfunction detected, the system may, at 508,proceed to form such a cooperative monitoring network and analyze thedata received from the cooperative monitoring.

At 510, the system may further determine whether other monitoringsystems in the cooperative monitoring network are experiencing the samemalfunction as the particular monitoring system. These determinationsmay, for example, be performed in a manner similar to that which hasbeen described above at 504. In some examples, the quantity of othermonitoring systems that are determined to be experiencing the samemalfunction as the particular monitoring system may be compared to oneor more threshold values. Such threshold values may, for instance, bespecified in the user preferences of the user of the particularmonitoring system. In such examples, the determination at 510 mayinclude determining whether the quantity of other monitoring systemsthat are determined to be experiencing the same malfunction as theparticular monitoring system satisfies the one or more threshold values.If it is determined that the same operational malfunction is notdetected elsewhere in the cooperative monitoring network, or that thequantity of the same operational malfunction detected elsewhere in thecooperative monitoring network does not satisfy one or more thresholdvalues, the system may, at 511, proceed to treat the operationalmalfunction as an isolated of “property-specific” event.

If, however, the system determines otherwise, the system may, at 512,proceed to treat the operational malfunction as a “cooperative” event,which may warrant a response that is different from the response to a“property-specific” event involving the same malfunction. For instance,the system may respond to a “property-specific” event involving aradio-frequency communication failure at the particular monitoringsystem by providing the user associated with the particular monitoringsystem with an alert using an alternative communication channel, whilethe system may respond to a “cooperative” event involving aradio-frequency communication failure at the particular monitoringsystem by concluding that radio-frequency communication channels used bythe particular monitoring system and others in the cooperativemonitoring network are being maliciously jammed, and may take one ormore investigative actions. In another example, the system may respondto a “property-specific” event involving abnormal solar panel outputs atthe particular monitoring system by concluding that the solar paneland/or property associated with the particular monitoring system havesustained critical damage, while the system may respond to a“cooperative” event involving abnormal solar panel outputs at theparticular monitoring system by concluding that such solar panels arecurrently covered with snow or overshadowed by clouds, and may simplytreat such operational malfunctions as a false alarm and/or take nofurther action.

In some implementations, an application server and/or central alarmstation server may activate a cooperative monitoring network between oneor more monitoring systems, such as those described above, and one ormore public monitoring systems. For instance, the application serverand/or central alarm station server may add a traffic camera to acooperative monitoring network in order to continue tracking an entityof interest. In other examples, street lamps or other devices that arenot specifically associated with a security system may be utilized forexecuting neighborhood-wide functions. In the example of the fleeingintruder, additional street lamps may be activated in order toilluminate an area where the fleeing intruder may be.

In some implementations, some or all of the processes described above inassociation with managing cooperative monitoring networks may beperformed by the monitoring control units of each monitoring systemincluded in a cooperative monitoring network. For instance, themonitoring control units of different monitoring systems may coordinateany of the various tasks performed by the application server and/orcentral alarm station server described above. In some examples, theapplication server and/or central alarm station server may facilitatediscovery of monitoring systems that may be utilized in a cooperativemonitoring network, while the monitoring control units of eachmonitoring system included in the cooperative monitoring networkcoordinate tasks to be performed by each respective monitoring system inorder for the cooperative monitoring network to provide larger scalemonitoring functions. In this way, cooperative monitoring networks maybe self-sufficient in one or more respects.

FIG. 6 illustrates example rules 600 for forming cooperative monitoringnetworks. The example rules shown in FIG. 6 may be accessed in theprocess 500, as described above in reference to FIG. 5, as well asprocesses 800 and 900, as described in more detail below in reference toFIGS. 8 and 9, respectively, and used by a monitoring application serverand/or central alarm server to create and modify cooperative monitoringnetworks in response to the detection of specified events. The examplerules 600 may, in this example, represent a set of rules that have beenspecified by a user of an exemplary monitoring system in their userpreferences, and optionally consented to by users of other monitoringsystems that are referenced in the example rules 600. In some examples,a monitoring application server and/or central alarm server may accessand maintain example rules 600 in association with the account of theuser of the exemplary monitoring system.

As shown, the example rules 600 specify an event 601, a cooperativemonitoring network response 602, an adaptation scheme 603, and potentialparticipants 604. Each event 601 may be associated with a particularpattern exhibited in data that is output by components of the exemplarymonitoring system. For example, the system may consider movementdetected by an infrared proximity sensor within a particular room of ahouse during the hours of 1:00-2:00 PM to constitute an “intrusion”event. Each cooperative monitoring network response 602 may berepresentative of the actions taken by a monitoring application serverand/or central alarm server in response to detecting an event 601. Morespecifically, each cooperative monitoring network response 602 may berepresent the data received from other monitoring systems that themonitoring application server and/or central alarm server analyzes inconnection with the detected event 601, as well as control signals thatthe monitoring application server and/or central alarm server mayprovide to monitoring systems in the cooperative monitoring network whenhandling the detected event 601. Each adaptation scheme 603 may berepresentative of the manner in which the monitoring application serverand/or central alarm server is to modify the cooperative monitoringnetwork. For instance, the system may modify the cooperative monitoringnetwork as needed in order to track entities of interest in connectionwith a detected intrusion event. That is, the system may dynamically addand/or remove monitoring systems over time to follow an entity as theychange locations. Each set of potential participants 604 may berepresentative of the parties (e.g., users, monitoring systems, etc.)that may potentially be included in each cooperative monitoring network.When providing such example rules 600, the user may specify particular,individual monitoring systems for inclusion in cooperative monitoringnetworks, and may also elect to specify a predefined group of monitoringsystems for inclusion in cooperative monitoring networks, such as agroup that includes all monitoring systems associated with usersbelonging to a homeowner's association. In some examples, the system mayonly form cooperative monitoring networks with the participantsspecified in the set of potential participants 604 if such participantshave expressly consented to volunteering their monitoring systems forsuch purposes. The user may also, in some implementations, specify thatthey would prefer for all consenting participants to be included in acooperative monitoring network, as needed. This may provide additionalbenefit in emergency situations of utmost criticality.

Each of rules 611-616 in the set of example rules 600 define events andthe details of the cooperative monitoring network response to beexecuted by the monitoring application server and/or central alarmserver in response to such events. For example, rule 611 specifies that,in response to detecting an intrusion event at the exemplary monitoringsystem for which the example rules 600 are provided, the monitoringapplication server and/or central alarm server activate any consentingmonitoring systems, as needed, to form and maintain a cooperativemonitoring network that tracks entities of interest in connection withthe intrusion event using camera and motion data from such monitoringsystems. The rule 611 also specifies that flood lighting components inthe cooperative monitoring network be used to bring attention to thedetected event as it progresses, and further specifies that alerts beprovided to users of monitoring systems that are added to thecooperative monitoring network. In this way, example rule 611 can beseen as one that may be similar to one or more rules leveraged inconnection with the intrusion detection response described above inreference to FIGS. 2A-C. Similarly, rule 612 can be seen as one that maybe similar to one or more rules leveraged in connection with the eventdetection response described above in reference to FIG. 3, involving theformation of a cooperative monitoring network that is modified, overtime in a cascading manner, in response to a detected medical emergencyevent. Rules 613-616 define other events and the details of a moresimplistic response to such events in which the cooperative monitoringnetworks formed may not have a specified adaptation scheme.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example graphical user interface 700 that may beaccessed by a user associated with a monitoring system in order to viewand modify user preferences regarding property-specific events andcooperative events. A user may access graphical user interface 700through a web browser or other application running on one or more of theclient devices described herein. For instance, graphical user interface700 may be accessible on a web site that is hosted by a security and/orautomation services provider, which may operate a monitoring applicationserver and/or central alarm server similar to those described above inreference to FIGS. 1-6.

In this example, graphical user interface 700 may present the user witha property-specific events user preferences section 710 and acooperative events user preferences section 720. In particular, theproperty-specific events user preferences section 710 of the graphicaluser interface 700 may display each of the property-specific events thathave been provided for example House #1, which may, for instance, be aproperty that is owned by the user of the graphical user interface 700and equipped with components of a monitoring system that is managed bythe monitoring application server and/or central alarm server.Property-specific events may, for example, be events which may beidentified by the monitoring application server and/or central alarmserver on the basis of data received from the monitoring system of House#1 and irrespective of data received from monitoring systems other thanthe monitoring system of House #1.

The user of the graphical user interface 700 may specify whatconstitutes each property-specific event associated with the monitoringsystem of House #1 by providing input to the property-specific eventsuser preferences section 710 of graphical user interface 700. In theexample of FIG. 7, it can be seen that a monitoring application serverand/or central alarm server that follows the definitions of theproperty-specific events shown in the property-specific events userpreferences section 710 of graphical user interface 700 would determinethat a “kitchen fire” event has occurred within House #1 if the datareceived from the monitoring system of House #1 indicates that the smokedetector #2 component has detected smoke for more than two consecutiveminutes. In addition, a monitoring application server and/or centralalarm server that follows the definitions of the property-specificevents shown in the property-specific events user preferences section710 of graphical user interface 700 would determine that a “broken solarpanel” event has occurred if it is determined that the output of thesolar panel #1 component of the monitoring system of House #1 is lessthan 0.002 V for more than ten consecutive minutes, determine that a“minimal cell tower coverage” event has occurred if two or morecomponents using cellular communication protocols are determined to besimultaneously experiencing malfunctions, and determine that an“intruder” event has occurred if it is determined that movement isdetected by the infrared motion sensor #4 component of the monitoringsystem of House #1. Each of the property-specific events descried in theproperty-specific events user preferences section 710 of graphical userinterface 700 may also be associated with one or more responses that areisolated to House #1 and its inhabitants. That is, action taken by themonitoring application server and/or central alarm server responsive todetection of a property-specific event may, in some implementations, inno way involve monitoring systems that are not registered to the sameaccount as the monitoring system of House #1.

The cooperative events user preferences section 720 of the graphicaluser interface 700 may display each of the cooperative events that maybe detected at other monitoring systems that are participating in acooperative monitoring network to assist in monitoring following anevent detected at the monitoring system of House #1, or that may bedetected at the monitoring system of House #1 while the monitoringsystem of House #1 is participating in a cooperative monitoring networkto assist in monitoring following an event detected at one or more ofthe other monitoring systems. Cooperative events may, for example, beevents which may be identified by the monitoring application serverand/or central alarm server on the basis of data received from themonitoring system of House #1 and data from one or more other monitoringsystems in a cooperative monitoring network to which the monitoringsystem of House #1 is associated.

The user of the graphical user interface 700 may specify whatconstitutes each cooperative event associated with the monitoring systemof House #1 by providing input to the cooperative events userpreferences section 720 of graphical user interface 700. By definingboth property-specific events and cooperative events, the monitoringapplication server and/or central alarm server may be able to decipherbetween property-specific and cooperative events that are detected atmonitoring systems in an active cooperative monitoring network. That is,the events defined and presented through the graphical user interface700 may enable the monitoring application server and/or central alarmserver to determine whether an event detected at a given monitoringsystem in a cooperative monitoring network is to be treated as aproperty-specific event or a cooperative event. Such a distinction maybe of importance in implementations in which the actions taken inresponse to detecting property-specific and cooperative events aresignificantly different. In some implementations, the monitoringapplication server and/or central alarm server that detects both aproperty-specific event and a cooperative event on the basis of the samedata may give precedence to the cooperative event such that themonitoring application server and/or central alarm server responds tothe cooperative event in the appropriate manner without responding tothe property-specific event. These operations may, for example, besimilar to 506 to 512 of process 500 as described above in reference toFIG. 5.

For example, a monitoring application server and/or central alarm serverthat only follows the definitions of the property-specific events shownin the property-specific events user preferences section 710 ofgraphical user interface 700 would, irrespective of the output of themonitoring system of House #2, determine that a “broken solar panel”event has occurred if it is determined that the output of the solarpanel #1 component of the monitoring system of House #1 is less than0.002 V for more than ten consecutive minutes, while a monitoringapplication server and/or central alarm server that follows thedefinitions of the cooperative events shown in the cooperative eventsuser preferences section 720 of graphical user interface 700 in additionto the definitions of the property-specific events shown in theproperty-specific events user preferences section 710 of graphical userinterface 700 would, in the event that the output of the solar panel #5component of the monitoring system of House #2 has less than 0.002 V formore than ten consecutive minutes, not determine that a “broken solarpanel” event has occurred if it is determined that the output of thesolar panel #1 component of the monitoring system of House #1 is lessthan 0.002 V for more than ten consecutive minutes, but would insteaddetermine that the abnormalities detected in the monitoring system ofHouse #1 are nothing more than a false alarm. It can be seen that othercooperative events, such a “cell channel jammed” event and “suspiciousperson” event may have criteria that overlap with property-specificevents, but also may yield very different conclusions and actions takenby the monitoring application server and/or central alarm server inresponse to the satisfaction of such criteria.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of an example of a process 800 for responding toan event detected at a monitoring system using a cooperative monitoringnetwork. The following describes the process 800 as being performed bycomponents of systems that are described with reference to FIGS. 1-4.However, the process 800 may be performed by other systems or systemconfigurations. Briefly, the process 800 may include receiving data froma particular monitoring system (802), receiving data from multiple othermonitoring systems (804), analyzing data received from the particularmonitoring system irrespective of data received from the multiple othermonitoring systems (806), based on the analysis, determining whether oneor more events occur at the particular environment (808), and inresponse to determining that a particular event occurs at the particularenvironment, evaluating the particular event against a set of rules(810), selecting, based on the evaluation results, a particular subsetof the multiple other monitoring systems to serve as a cooperativemonitoring network (812), assessing data received from the particularmonitoring system with data received from the particular subset of themultiple other monitoring systems (814), based on the assessment,tracking, in connection with the particular event, events detected bythe particular subset of the multiple other monitoring systems (816),and handling the particular event based on the tracked events detectedby the particular subset of the multiple other monitoring systems (818).

In more detail, the process 800 may include receiving data from aparticular monitoring system that is managed by the electronic system,that is associated with a particular user, and that includes one or morecomponents that sense attributes at a particular environment (802). Thismay, for instance, correspond to monitoring application server 160and/or central alarm server 170 receiving data from monitoring system108, which is associated with the user who owns the property on whichportions of monitoring system 108 are located and includes one or morecomponents 112, 114, 120, 122, 130, 140, and 150. Such a monitoringsystem may also be similar to the monitoring system of premises 210, asdescribed above in reference to FIGS. 2A-C, or similar to the monitoringsystem of premises 312, as described above in reference to FIG. 3.

In some implementations, receiving data from the particular monitoringsystem that is managed by the electronic system and that is associatedwith the particular user may include receiving data from a particularmonitoring system that is registered to a particular account managed bythe electronic system. In these implementations, the particular usermay, for instance, have access to the particular account. Such aparticular account may, for example, correspond to an account held bythe particular user in connection with security and/or automationservices that are provided to the particular user through the monitoringsystem that is associated with the particular user and a monitoringapplication server and/or central alarm server, such as those describedabove in reference to FIGS. 2A-C. In some examples, one or more of thecomponents of the particular monitoring system are fixed within aparticular property that is owned by the particular user. In suchexamples, the particular environment may correspond to the particularproperty. Such a particular property may, for instance, at least in partcorrespond to premises 210. As such, the particular monitoring systemmay, in some implementations, be a security system of a residence thatis located on the particular property.

The process 800 may include receiving data from multiple othermonitoring systems that are managed by the electronic system, that areassociated with multiple other users, and that each include one or morecomponents that sense attributes external to the particular environment(804). For example, this may correspond to monitoring application server160 and/or central alarm server 170 receiving data from multiplemonitoring systems other than monitoring system 108, each of which maybe similar to monitoring system 108 _(N) including one or morecomponents 112 _(N), 114 _(N), 120 _(N), 122 _(N), 130 _(N), 140 _(N),and 150 _(N). Such monitoring systems may also be similar to themonitoring systems of premises 220 and 230, as described above inreference to FIGS. 2A-C, or similar to those which are installed withinpremises 342 a-d, as described above in reference to FIG. 3. Inimplementations in which the particular monitoring system is registeredto the particular account, receiving data from multiple other monitoringsystems that are managed by the electronic system and that areassociated with multiple other users may, in some examples, includereceiving data from multiple other monitoring systems that areregistered to accounts managed by the electronic system other than theparticular account.

The process 800 may include analyzing data received from the particularmonitoring system irrespective of data received from the multiple othermonitoring systems (806) and, based on the analysis, determining whetherone or more events occur at the particular environment (808). This may,for instance, correspond to a monitoring application server and/orcentral alarm server, such as those described above in reference toFIGS. 1-4, analyzing the data produced by a monitoring system, inisolation, in order to provide one or more security services to theparticular user.

The process 800 may include in response to determining that a particularevent occurs at the particular environment, evaluating the particularevent against a set of rules that are associated with the particularmonitoring system (810) and selecting, based on the evaluation resultsand from among the multiple other monitoring systems, a particularsubset of the multiple other monitoring systems to serve as acooperative monitoring network that assists with monitoring of theparticular event (812). For instance, this may correspond to amonitoring application server and/or central alarm server, such as thosedescribed above in reference to FIGS. 2A-C, evaluating the nature of theevent detected at the monitoring system of premises 210 and, in turn,selecting the monitoring system of premises 220 to assist withmonitoring the event. In some examples, the set of rules may include oneor more rules having been defined by the particular user and consentedto by other users that are associated with the particular subset of themultiple other monitoring systems. Such a set of rules may, forinstance, include or be similar to one or more of the rules 600 asdescribed above in reference to FIG. 6. For instance, the user that isassociated with the monitoring system of premises 220, as describedabove in reference to FIGS. 2A-C, may have provided permission toinclude the monitoring system of premises 220 in a cooperativemonitoring network with the monitoring system of premises 210.

The process 800 may include monitoring the particular event by assessingdata received from the particular monitoring system with data receivedfrom the particular subset of the multiple other monitoring systems(814). This may, for instance, correspond to a monitoring applicationserver and/or central alarm server, such as those described above inreference to FIGS. 2A-C, assessing data received from the monitoringsystem of premises 210 in conjunction with data, such as images 224 a-b,received from the monitoring system of premises 220.

The process 800 may include, based on the assessment, tracking, inconnection with the particular event, events detected by the particularsubset of the multiple other monitoring systems external to theparticular environment (816). For example, this may correspond to amonitoring application server and/or central alarm server, such as thosedescribed above in reference to FIGS. 2A-C, tracking the intruder 202,in connection with the intrusion event detected at the monitoring systemof premises 210, using data, such as images 224 a-b, received from themonitoring system of premises 220. In the examples of FIGS. 2A-C, amonitoring application server and/or central alarm server may furthertrack events that are associated with intruder 202, and thus alsoassociated with the intrusion event detected at the monitoring system ofpremises 210, based on the direction 214 in which the intruder 202 isdetermined to be moving. In performing this step of process 800, thesystem may reference criteria provided for property-specific events andcooperative events, such as those described above in reference to FIG.7, so as to distinguish between events that are connected to theparticular event (e.g., cooperative events) and events that are notconnected to the particular event and instead relate only to specificmonitoring systems in the cooperative monitoring network (e.g.,property-specific events).

The process 800 may include handling the particular event based on thetracked events detected by the particular subset of the multiple othermonitoring systems external to the particular environment (818). Thismay, for instance, correspond to a monitoring application server and/orcentral alarm server, such as those described above in reference toFIGS. 2A-C, performing one or more operations to promote awareness ofthe intrusion event detected at the monitoring system of premises 210and the whereabouts of the intruder 202, so as to provide users withenhanced security and aid in the apprehension of intruder 202. In someexamples, handling the particular event based on the tracked eventsdetected by the particular subset of the multiple other monitoringsystems external to the particular environment may include controllingone or more components of other monitoring systems included in theparticular subset of the multiple other monitoring systems external tothe particular environment based on the tracked events detected by theparticular subset of the multiple other monitoring systems external tothe particular environment. In such examples, functions of one or morecomponents of monitoring systems included in the cooperative monitoringnetwork may be controlled by a monitoring application server and/orcentral alarm server. For instance, a monitoring application serverand/or central alarm server may activate one or more lighting systems oreffect pan-tilt-zoom movements in camera systems of other monitoringsystems in an effort to track events that are connected to the eventinitially detected and bring attention to emerging threats.

In some implementations, the process 800 may further include, inresponse to determining that the particular event occurs at theparticular environment, generating a message about the particular eventand transmitting the message to one or more client devices belonging tothe particular user and one or more client devices belonging to otherusers that are associated with the particular subset of the multipleother monitoring systems. This may, for instance, correspond to amonitoring application server and/or central alarm server providingsending alerts and other notifications to users that are determined tobe in geographic proximity to a detected event. By promoting awarenessin this way, such users may be able to take extra precautions to protectthemselves from emerging threats, or come to the aid of others in needof medical assistance or other help. Such client devices may function ina manner similar to devices 140 and 150, as described above in referenceto FIG. 1, and may include smart phones, laptops, and the like.

In some examples, the one or more of the components of the particularmonitoring system include a mobile device. In such examples, theparticular environment may correspond to a location of the mobiledevice. This may, for instance, correspond to mobile device 404, asdescribed above in reference to FIG. 4. In addition, selecting, based onthe evaluation results and from among the multiple other monitoringsystems, the particular subset of the multiple other monitoring systemsto serve as a cooperative monitoring network that assists withmonitoring of the particular event may, in some of such examples,include selecting, from among the multiple other monitoring systems, aparticular subset of the multiple other monitoring systems to serve as acooperative monitoring network that assists with monitoring of theparticular event, based on the evaluation results and the location ofthe mobile device. For example, this may correspond to the monitoringapplication server and/or central alarm server, as described above inreference to FIG. 4, determining to form a cooperative monitoringnetwork that at least includes monitoring system of premises 430 basedon determining that that mobile device 404 and monitoring system ofpremises 430 are proximate to one another.

In some implementations, the process 800 may further includedetermining, based on data received from the particular monitoringsystem, that an entity is associated with the particular event andidentifying one or more characteristics of the entity associated withthe particular event. In such implementations, tracking, based on theassessment and in connection with the particular event, events detectedby the particular subset of the multiple other monitoring systemsexternal to the particular environment may include tracking, based onthe assessment and in connection with the particular event, one or moremovements of the entity detected by the particular subset of themultiple other monitoring systems external to the particularenvironment, using the one or more identified characteristics of theentity. This may, for instance, correspond to the monitoring applicationserver and/or central alarm server, as described above in reference toFIGS. 2A-C, initially determining that an entity was responsible for theintrusion event detected at the monitoring system of premises 210, andfurther identifying one or more characteristics of intruder 202 so as tofacilitate the tracking of intruder 202. The entity may, for instance,correspond to a person, animal, or vehicle. Such characteristics may bethose of the entity's physical appearance, movements, and the like. Tofacilitate entity tracking, one or more models or templates may bedeveloped on-the-fly based on such characteristics and leveraged by amonitoring application server and/or central alarm server to determinewhether data received from any monitoring system included in acooperative monitoring network conveys the presence of likeness of theentity of interest. In these implementations, any of a variety of signalprocessing techniques may be utilized for the identification andrecognition of characteristics of entities.

In addition, determining that the particular event occurs at theparticular environment may, in some of such implementations, includedetermining that a property of the particular user has been breached,where the entity corresponds to an intruder of the property of theparticular user. This may, for instance, correspond to the exampledescribed above in reference to FIGS. 2A-C. In another example,determining that the particular event occurs at the particularenvironment may, in some of such implementations, include determiningthat a person or animal associated with the particular user has gonemissing, where the entity corresponds to the person or animal associatedwith the particular user. For instance, this may correspond examples inwhich the particular user's child or pet has gone missing, and acooperative monitoring network is leveraged in an effort to find thelost child or pet.

In some examples, determining, based on the analysis, that a particularevent occurs at the particular environment may include determining,based on the analysis, that the particular monitoring system isexperiencing a malfunction. In such examples, assessing data receivedfrom the particular monitoring system with data received from theparticular subset of the multiple other monitoring systems may includedetermining whether other monitoring systems in the particular subset ofthe multiple other monitoring systems are experiencing the malfunction.This may, for instance, correspond to one or more steps of process 500,as described above in reference to FIG. 5, as performed by the system toaddress malfunctions including phone line failure, power failure,radio-frequency communication failure, and abnormalities in readingsfrom solar panels and other transducers. In some implementations, themalfunction, in some of these examples, may correspond to aradio-frequency communication failure between one or more monitoringsystem components. In such implementations, the process 800 may furtherinclude determining that other monitoring systems in the particularsubset of the multiple other monitoring systems are experiencingradio-frequency communication failures between one or more monitoringsystem components and, in response to determining that other monitoringsystems in the particular subset of the multiple other monitoringsystems are experiencing radio-frequency communication failures betweenone or more monitoring system components, determining thatradio-frequency communication channels used by the particular monitoringsystem and other monitoring systems in the particular subset of themultiple other monitoring systems are being jammed. For example, thismay correspond to process 500, at 508 to 512, as described above inreference to FIG. 5.

In some implementations, the process 800 may further include, based ontracking events detected by the particular subset of the multiple othermonitoring systems external to the particular environment, modifying thecooperative monitoring network to (i) add one or more monitoring systemsto the cooperative monitoring network, and (ii) remove one or moreexisting monitoring systems from the cooperative monitoring network.This may, for instance, correspond to the monitoring application serverand/or central alarm server, as described above in reference to FIGS.2A-C, determining to add the monitoring system of premises 230 to thecooperative monitoring network that is assisting in the monitoring ofevents stemming from or otherwise associated with the intrusion eventdetected at the monitoring system of premises 210, such as those thatoccur as intruder 202 flees premises 210. Cooperative monitoring networkmodifications may, in the example of FIGS. 2A-C, continue to take placeso as to track the intruder 202. As described above in the example ofFIG. 3, cooperative monitoring network modifications may also take placeas a function of time. For example, a cooperative monitoring network mayprogressively expand outwards from the monitoring system located at theepicenter of a detected event so as to provide increasing awareness ofthe detected event while it remains unresolved and/or becomesincreasingly more urgent.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of an example of a process 900 for modifyingcooperative monitoring network. The following describes the process 900as being performed by components of systems that are described withreference to FIGS. 1-4. However, the process 900 may be performed byother systems or system configurations. The process 900 may, forinstance, be similar to one or more operations that are performed by amonitoring application server and/or central alarm server inimplementing a cooperative monitoring network adaptation schemes, suchas an adaptation scheme 603 as described above in reference to FIG. 6.

Execution of the process 900 may, for instance, be initiated after acooperative monitoring network has been formed, and while the monitoringapplication server and/or central alarm server is leveraging thecooperative monitoring network to monitor an event. At 902, the systemmay monitor the location of events detected in the cooperativemonitoring network. For instance, the monitoring application serverand/or central alarm server may analyze the location at which each ofone or more events detected at monitoring systems in the cooperativemonitoring network occur. At 904, the system may monitor the timing ofevents detected in the cooperative monitoring network. Based at least onthe location and timing of such detected events, the system may, at 906,determine whether to modify the cooperative monitoring network.

The system may, for instance, determine to remove an existing monitoringsystem from the cooperative monitoring network if it is determined thatthe data that is being provided by the existing monitoring system is nolonger of relevance. Such a determination may be made based on thesystem not having detected any events at the existing monitoring systemfor an extended period of time, and further detecting a multitude ofrelevant events at other monitoring systems in the cooperativemonitoring network that substantially distant from the existingmonitoring system. Likewise, the system may also determine that amonitoring system that is not currently included in the cooperativemonitoring network be added to the cooperative monitoring network. Sucha determination may, for instance, be made based on the location and/ormovements of an entity of interest that is being tracked. In someexamples, this determination may be made based on one or morepredictions regarding the route that is being taken by the entity ofinterest that is being tracked. As described above, one or more machinelearning techniques may be leveraged to obtain one or more of such routepredictions. For instance, the system may generate, maintain, and modifyone or more statistical models using one or more machine learningtechniques, such as supervised learning, unsupervised learning, and/orreinforcement learning. Such statistical models may, in someimplementations, include artificial neural network and logisticregression models that are leveraged by the system to obtain routepredictions and/or other insights, and proactively modify cooperativemonitoring networks on the basis of such route predictions and/or otherinsights. If it is determined that the cooperative monitoring network isto be modified, then the system may proceed to make the necessarymodifications and then, once again, perform the steps of process 900from the beginning.

If, however, the system determines not to modify the cooperativemonitoring network at 906, the system may then proceed to determine, at908, whether to disband the cooperative monitoring network. The systemmay, for instance, determine to disband a cooperative monitoring networkonce one or more issues associated with the detected event are resolved.For example, the system may determine to disband a cooperativemonitoring network that had been tracking an entity of interest inconnection with an intrusion event upon determining that the entity ofinterest has been apprehended by the authorities. In another example,the system may determine to disband a cooperative monitoring networkupon completely losing all track of an entity on the move. In yetanother example, the system may determine to disband a cooperativemonitoring network upon losing the ability to adequately discerndifferences between “property-specific” events and “cooperative” events.The system might encounter such a situation if monitoring systemsincluded in multiple, different cooperative monitoring networks at thesame time, so as to assist with monitoring of multiple, different eventsthat are occurring simultaneously. It follows that, upon determiningwhether to disband the cooperative monitoring network at 908, the systemmay, in response, proceed with either disbanding the cooperativemonitoring network or performing the steps of process 900, once again,from the beginning.

The described systems, methods, and techniques may be implemented indigital electronic circuitry, computer hardware, firmware, software, orin combinations of these elements. Apparatus implementing thesetechniques may include appropriate input and output devices, a computerprocessor, and a computer program product tangibly embodied in amachine-readable storage device for execution by a programmableprocessor. A process implementing these techniques may be performed by aprogrammable processor executing a program of instructions to performdesired functions by operating on input data and generating appropriateoutput. The techniques may be implemented in one or more computerprograms that are executable on a programmable system including at leastone programmable processor coupled to receive data and instructionsfrom, and to transmit data and instructions to, a data storage system,at least one input device, and at least one output device. Each computerprogram may be implemented in a high-level procedural or object-orientedprogramming language, or in assembly or machine language if desired; andin any case, the language may be a compiled or interpreted language.Suitable processors include, by way of example, both general and specialpurpose microprocessors. Generally, a processor will receiveinstructions and data from a read-only memory and/or a random accessmemory. Storage devices suitable for tangibly embodying computer programinstructions and data include all forms of non-volatile memory,including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, such asErasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), Electrically ErasableProgrammable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), and flash memory devices;magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removable disks;magneto-optical disks; and Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM). Anyof the foregoing may be supplemented by, or incorporated in,specially-designed ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits).

It will be understood that various modifications may be made. Forexample, other useful implementations could be achieved if steps of thedisclosed techniques were performed in a different order and/or ifcomponents in the disclosed systems were combined in a different mannerand/or replaced or supplemented by other components. Accordingly, otherimplementations are within the scope of the disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic system comprising: at least oneprocessor; and at least one computer-readable storage medium coupled tothe at least one processor having stored thereon instructions which,when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least oneprocessor to perform operations comprising: receiving a first set ofdata that includes first sensor data or first image data from aparticular monitoring system that is managed by the electronic system,wherein the particular monitoring system is (i) associated with aparticular user and (ii) includes one or more first sensors configuredto generate the first sensor data based on one or more attributes at aparticular environment or one or more first cameras that are configuredto capture the first image data of at least a portion of the particularenvironment; receiving a second set of data that includes second sensordata or second image data from one or more other monitoring systems thatare managed by the electronic system, wherein each of the one or moreother monitoring systems (i) is associated with at least one other userthat is different than the particular user and (ii) includes one or moresecond sensors configured to generate at least part of the second sensordata based on one or more attributes external to the particularenvironment or one or more second cameras that are configured to captureat least part of the second image data of an external environmentexternal to the particular environment; analyzing the first set of datareceived from the particular monitoring system irrespective of thesecond set of data received from the one or more other monitoringsystems; based on the analysis, determining whether one or more eventsoccur at the particular environment; and in response to determining thata particular event occurs at the particular environment: evaluating theparticular event against a set of rules that are associated with theparticular monitoring system; selecting, based on the evaluation resultsand from among the one or more other monitoring systems, a particularsubset of the one or more other monitoring systems to serve as acooperative monitoring network that assists with monitoring of theparticular event; monitoring the particular event by assessing datareceived from the one or more first sensors or the one or more firstcameras of the particular monitoring system with data received from theone or more second sensors or the one or more second cameras of theparticular subset of the one or more other monitoring systems; based onthe assessment, tracking, in connection with the particular event,events detected by the particular subset of the one or more othermonitoring systems external to the particular environment; and handlingthe particular event based on the tracked events detected by theparticular subset of the one or more other monitoring systems externalto the particular environment.
 2. The system of claim 1: whereinreceiving the first set of data that includes first sensor data or firstimage data from the particular monitoring system that is managed by theelectronic system and that is associated with the particular usercomprises: receiving the first set of data that includes first sensordata or first image data from the particular monitoring system that isregistered to a particular account managed by the electronic system; andwherein the particular user has access to the particular account.
 3. Thesystem of claim 2, wherein receiving a second set of data that includessecond sensor data or second image data from one or more othermonitoring systems that are managed by the electronic system and thatare each associated with at least one other user that is different thanthe particular user comprises: receiving the second set of data thatincludes second sensor data or second image data from the one or moreother monitoring systems that are each registered to respective accountsmanaged by the electronic system other than the particular account. 4.The system of claim 1: wherein the one or more first sensors or the oneor more first cameras of the particular monitoring system are fixedwithin a particular property that is owned by the particular user; andwherein the particular environment corresponds to the particularproperty.
 5. The system of claim 4, wherein the particular monitoringsystem is a security system of a residence that is located on theparticular property.
 6. The system of claim 1: wherein the particularmonitoring system includes a mobile device; and wherein the particularenvironment corresponds to a location of the mobile device.
 7. Thesystem of claim 6, wherein selecting, based on the evaluation resultsand from among the multiple other monitoring systems, the particularsubset of the multiple other monitoring systems to serve as acooperative monitoring network that assists with monitoring of theparticular event comprises: selecting, from among the multiple othermonitoring systems, a particular subset of the multiple other monitoringsystems to serve as a cooperative monitoring network that assists withmonitoring of the particular event, based on the evaluation results andthe location of the mobile device.
 8. The system of claim 1: wherein theoperations further comprise: determining, based on data received fromthe one or more first sensors or the one or more first cameras of theparticular monitoring system, that an entity is associated with theparticular event; and identifying one or more characteristics of theentity associated with the particular event; and wherein tracking, basedon the assessment and in connection with the particular event, eventsdetected by the particular subset of the one or more other monitoringsystems external to the particular environment comprises: tracking,based on the assessment and in connection with the particular event, oneor more movements of the entity detected by the particular subset of theone or more other monitoring systems external to the particularenvironment, using the one or more identified characteristics of theentity.
 9. The system of claim 8: wherein determining that theparticular event occurs at the particular environment comprises:determining that a property of the particular user has been breached;and wherein the entity corresponds to an intruder of the property of theparticular user.
 10. The system of claim 8: wherein determining that theparticular event occurs at the particular environment comprises:determining that a person or animal associated with the particular userhas gone missing; and wherein the entity corresponds to the person oranimal associated with the particular user.
 11. The system of claim 8,wherein the entity corresponds to a vehicle.
 12. The system of claim 1:wherein determining, based on the analysis, that a particular eventoccurs at the particular environment comprises: determining, based onthe analysis, that the particular monitoring system is experiencing amalfunction; and wherein assessing data received from one or more firstsensors or the one or more first cameras of the particular monitoringsystem with data received from the one or more second sensors or the oneor more second cameras of the particular subset of the one or more othermonitoring systems comprises: determining whether other monitoringsystems in the particular subset of the one or more other monitoringsystems are experiencing the malfunction.
 13. The system of claim 12,wherein the malfunction corresponds to a radio-frequency communicationfailure between one or more monitoring system components.
 14. The systemof claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise: determining thatother monitoring systems in the particular subset of the one or moreother monitoring systems are experiencing radio-frequency communicationfailures between one or more monitoring system components; in responseto determining that other monitoring systems in the particular subset ofthe one or more other monitoring systems are experiencingradio-frequency communication failures between one or more monitoringsystem components, determining that radio-frequency communicationchannels used by the particular monitoring system and other monitoringsystems in the particular subset of the one or more other monitoringsystems are being jammed.
 15. The system of claim 1, wherein, inresponse to determining that the particular event occurs at theparticular environment, the operations further comprise: generating amessage about the particular event; and transmitting the message to oneor more client devices belonging to the particular user and one or moreclient devices belonging to other users that are associated with theparticular subset of the one or more other monitoring systems.
 16. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise: based ontracking events detected by the particular subset of the one or moreother monitoring systems external to the particular environment,modifying the cooperative monitoring network to (i) add one or moremonitoring systems to the cooperative monitoring network, and (ii)remove one or more existing monitoring systems from the cooperativemonitoring network.
 17. The system of claim 1, wherein the set of rulesincludes one or more rules having been defined by the particular userand consented to by other users that are associated with the particularsubset of the one or more other monitoring systems.
 18. The system ofclaim 1, wherein handling the particular event based on the trackedevents detected by the particular subset of the one or more othermonitoring systems external to the particular environment comprises:controlling one or more components of other monitoring systems includedin the particular subset of the one or more other monitoring systemsexternal to the particular environment based on the tracked eventsdetected by the particular subset of the one or more other monitoringsystems external to the particular environment.